The Reunion

So, this year is my {gasp} 10 year class reunion. When I found out my bff probably wouldn't be able to attend, I was devastated. But after she made a very clever comment on this post, that even got a chuckle out of Blake, he said, "You should go visit Michelle." Then a few weeks later came the 1/2 off flights on Southwest and a new reunion was born! My cross-country flight wasn't that bad. Well, except the 45 minute delay while we were on the plane, waiting to take-off in San Francisco. I thought the delayed connection flight in Chicago was a blessing, so we had time to actually make the flight and also eat some yummy Nuts on Clark, until we circled in a holding pattern over Philadelphia for about an hour and a half waiting for the weather to clear up. After a total 10 hours of airport/airplane time, I can't even describe how happy we were to see New Michelle (as opposed to the other Michelle, definitely not OLD Michelle) and Weston waiting for us. After stopping at the Wa-wa for a tasty sandwich, we drove down what has to be the most charming street in the entire country until we arrived at this house.
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. My boys could have spent our entire vacation in this house. And specifically, the big basement toy room. He spent so much time playing down there. Heaven. And I can't tell you how happy it made me that all the kids hit it off so well, just like their moms. I tried to sneak pictures of them playing "Duck-Duck-Goose" and this is the best I got. Such good kids.
And the backyard, oh the backyard. So woody and so spacious. Plenty of room for swinging shovels! And look at the swing set with shredded tires instead of sand or wood chips to break falls. Jack would go to the glass door leading to the backyard and say "Sing! Sing!" He loved those swings.
Anyway, we did actually leave the house. Michelle showed us everything country-life has to offer. We went to pick strawberries and since the tractors weren't going that day, we had to make the trek out to the fields pulling our five little rascals. It's a good thing Michelle has such big guns. And it's probably a good thing we didn't have someone escort us out to the fields, since we probably ended up stepping on, smashing, and eating as many strawberries as we actually picked. We tried to take a picture of all the kids in front of the big strawberry and this is my favorite one. As Michelle said, Max is picking his nose, Sally is posing, Adri has to hold open her smile, Jack is walking away, and Weston looks abandoned. I love it!
The next day, Steve (or Eve as Max called him) had the day off work so we ventured to Atlantic City baby! The cold, overcast beach weather made us feel right at home and the boys headed straight for the water. Now the boys have officially dipped a toe, foot, or perhaps face-planted (that's why I don't have a picture of Jack in the water--on one of his first times in he fell right in and wouldn't get close to it again) in both the Pacific and Atlantic.

We took a nice stroll along the boardwalk and everyone got to pick a treat--whatever they wanted. Max and Jack chose rock crystal suckers, Sally, Adri, and Weston chose ice cream, and Michelle, Steve, a sneaky seagull and I chose fried oreos. Yes, that's right. A seagull came and stole one right off our plate. And then, after we finished the oreos, the wind came and blew the powdered sugar-covered plate off the table and right on to Jack. Jack didn't seem to mind, though. He just moved from licking his sucker over to licking the sugar off his hand.
Friday we went to a cute little farm where the kids chased ducks, pretended to be vets, and even rode a mini-carousel. They were such good little kids the entire day. Well, except when Max to step on the little baby chicks who were out in the open, free to roam around for their very first time. The kids played so well together which made for two very happy moms.

So, our ride to the farm looked like this--And coming home looked like this (Max just does not take naps--EVER)--
Since we still needed to do something matching to make the trip complete, we decided now would be the time to do and stopped by the shoe store. And after much deliberation (all the kids woke up during this time) we finally decided on some matching flip flops. And after Michelle worked her pedicurist magic, we could rest easy that we were once again matchers.
We really had the most wonderful visit and I couldn't have asked for a better reunion with one of my dearest friends. Thank you for being such a sweet host. Next reunion is definitely in San Francisco, right Michelle?!?

If you need me...

I'll be visiting my bff of 16 years on the other side of the country. With my two little rascals. Please pray for me on the long flight. And if this visit is anything like 16 years ago there will probably be matching outfits, mix-tape making, some pillow talk, and a lot of laughing. But whatever we do, there is one thing you can count on: We'll be taking pictures of it! I can't wait.

Summer Buzzes Part II

Well, it happened. He doesn't look funny at all, actually, I think he looks quite handsome, but I'm still super sad about it. Good bye little baby, hello big boy.

SOME BEFORES
DURING
AFTER

Happy Memorial Day

We went to the Presidio again this year to celebrate Memorial Day. Even though the weather was dreary overcast like last year and the program was basically the same, the boys didn't seem as interested. We loved the parade, waving our flags, and watching the horses, but we didn't make it past pledge of allegiance in the program. After that we walked around, looked at all the flags, and took pictures until my camera battery died. Happy Memorial Day!

Summer Buzz Part I

BEFOREDURINGAFTER
See, I can handle this. It's not a big deal. But I still talked Blake into giving me one more night with the whispies. I guess tomorrow is Jack's big day. Wish me luck.

Surprise Utah Vacation

Since flights were so cheap, after we booked Grandma and Grandpa's visit to San Francisco, Grandma had the fun idea of us flying home with them and surprising all our Utah family. Done. Only one problem. Grandma was so excited about the surprise that she just couldn't keep it a secret. So, even though no one was surprised, our surprise vacation was a blast.

I'm so mad at myself. We had the best DWTS/Pool Party ever Monday night, and I didn't take a single picture. Max had everyone splishing and splashing. Or at least getting splashed. Even Great Myrtice ended up with some splashes on her clothes and Max was laughing about it the rest of the night. Seriously. When I was talking to him about the day we had as we were lying in bed, he just stopped talking and starting laughing remembering it. And then, to make things even worse for me, we had ANOTHER DWTS party on Tuesday night and I didn't take any pictures there either. What kind of blogger am I? :)

But I did get some pictures of our trip to the zoo. We had so much fun with Grandma seeing all the animals. Max especially loved the elephants, his favorite animal, since the SF zoo doesn't have any. Can you believe that? And Jack's favorite was the giraffe who came so close to us I thought we'd be able to reach out and touch him. All these animals plus a carousel and train ride made one fabulous day.

Also, Andy came through for me with some good swinging pictures. We love Utah!

Grandma, Grandpa, and Dawna Visit

We were so excited to continue with our string of May visitors this weekend. (Thank you half-off Southwest flights to San Francisco!) Grandpa, Grandma, and Dawna came and we started off with a whirlwind...or more appropriately, a tornado. We picked up Grandma and Dawna from the airport, left Grandpa there to get the bags and rental car, and rushed back into the city for WICKED! I'm so happy Dawna decided to give Grandma tickets for her birthday and that she included me on the gift.
The next morning we decided to try the lighthouse again, since it didn't quite work out with Andy and Bri. This time we knew exactly when it opened, so we stopped by the Palace first to spend a little time feeding the birds before heading up to the lighthouse. Max was smart enough to trade his too-small, character sunglasses with Dawna once we got there and wouldn't trade back for the rest of the day. Plus, my dad saw a bird he couldn't identify. Dad, have you figured that one out yet? After the Palace we drove up to Point Bonita Lighthouse and it was open! Yay! I've been so scared of the bridge or "bridge of death" like I like to call it, that you have to walk across to actually get to the lighthouse. Only two people can walk on it at a time. But it turned out not to be as scary as I thought. However, I would not like to walk across that thing with any sort of wind blowing.

We ate at Pacific Catch for lunch and then came back to the house for some naps. Everyone but Max took a nice snoozer, but it was definitely Max who needed the nap since as soon as we got down to the Wharf that evening, he fell dead asleep in the stroller. And Baby Jack was in no-Max heaven. He was 100% spoiled and got all the attention and everything he asked for, including a solo ride on the carousel with Grandma. We were still so full from lunch, that for dinner we opted for ice cream rather than bread bowls. And don't worry, we made sure to wake Max up in time for some dinner. :)
The next morning we breakfasted at Mama's, where both Dawna and Grandma opted for something other than the Monte Cristo. Crazy, I know. Then we headed down to Historic Hyde Street Pier for plenty of signs to read, countless places to play and hide and seek, and lots of water to almost fall in to. Perfect for everyone. The boys loved playing on the little bunk beds and other than that, while Grandpa was busy reading all the signs, Max was happy pushing all the buttons to start the narrations, Jack was happy pushing an empty stroller around the decks, Grandma and Dawna were happy making sure Jack didn't push the stroller straight into the water, and Blake and I were happy just sitting.
But it wasn't until we came home to rest that we had the best time of the whole vacation--a friendly game of "I Had a Little Doggy." I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Thank you for the fun visit. We can't wait to do it again!